*A tesseract is the four-dimensional equivalent of a cube. As a cube is to a square, so a tesseract is to a cube. |
Click on |
Synopsis:
by Madeleine L'Engle
This excellent science fiction adventure contains many fantasy elements which pique our imagination. Meg Murry, a thirteen year old, is very unhappy. Although she is very bright, she has low self esteem, and has problems in school. Her mother and father are both brilliant scientists, but her father has been missing for a over a year. Meg's five year old brother, Charles Wallace, is an extraordinary child, and is closer to Meg than to anyone else.
One stormy night the Murry family is visited by a strange lady who tells Meg's mother, "There is such a thing as a Tesseract." The next day, Charles Wallace takes Meg to meet his new friends, Mrs. Whatsit, Mrs. Who, and Mrs. Which. On their way they meet up with an older boy, Calvin O'Keefe, and they immediately become friends. The three ladies, who are actually very strange and powerful beings from beyond the Earth, want to help the kids to find their father.
Meg and Charles, with their new friend Calvin, are taken on a fantastic journey which ultimately places them on the planet Camazotz. Camazotz is a planet that has given in to a terrible dark shadow which threatens much of the universe, and has shadowed our Earth for years. Meg, Charles and Calvin must try to free Dr. Murry from the clutches of IT (a disembodied brain that controls all of Camazotz and lies at the center of the darkness).
Meg, Calvin and Dr. Murry escape off of Camazotz, but Charles, who had voluntarily allowed himself to be hypnotized in an attempt to free his father, is left behind. Meg, the one who has always been closest to Charles, must return alone to save him.
Alone and very frightened, but with sound advice from the mysterious three Mrs. W's, Meg returns to Camazotz. She is almost unable to keep herself from being drawn into the clutches of the evil IT, but she realizes just in time that she has something IT does not: LOVE. By the power of her love for Charles, she breaks the spell that has held him and frees her brother from IT's control. Meg and Charles, with their father and Calvin, return home to their family.
A Wrinkle in Time contains a powerful message about the power of love and the need to fight the darkness of ignorance and conformity. On another level, it is also the story of a misfit who discovers her own abilities. For authoring this excellent book, Madeleine L'Engle was awarded the coveted Newbery Medal.
Engage in Reading!
Look for these other works by Madeleine L'Engle in your local library:
More Newbery Medalist books (great books for kids)
09/01/09
*A tesseract is the four-dimensional equivalent of a cube. As a cube is to a square, so a tesseract is to a cube. |
Click on |
| "Well, the fifth dimension's a tesseract. You add that to the other four dimensions, and you can travel through space without having to go the long way around." - Charles Wallace - A Wrinkle in Time |
Top of page ------- Back to Resources page
